The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee from Atlanta about side trips that you can take when you travel to Shanghai this year for Expo 2010.
Lee is currently living in China and talks about 3 different weekend trips to destinations that are located near Shanghai.
Lee starts us in the history-rich city of Nanjing the site of “China’s Holocaust” in WW 2. Nanjing has been the capital for 6 different Chinese governments and still retains its ancient walls in addition to modern shopping and the tomb of Sun Yat-sen. It was also the location of the world’s worst civil war, the Taiping Rebellion.
After Nanjing, we explore the many gardens and the canals of Suzhou. Finally, Lee takes us to Hangzhou with its beautiful West Lake which the Chinese compare to heaven.
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Show Notes
Expo 2010 Shanghai China
Travel to Shanghai, China – Episode 26
Nanjing
Nanjing, China
Nanking Massacre
John Rabe – a German businessman and Nazi party member who is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the Nanking Occupation
Sun Yat-sen – “Father of the Chinese Nation”
Ming Dynasty
Cheongsam or Qipao – traditional Chinese dress
Taiping Rebellion – largest civil war in history started by Hong Xiuquan who declared himself the brother of Jesus.
Restaurants
Skyway Bakery and Deli
Les 5 Sens
Tairyo Teppanyaki
Suzhou
Gardens – Master of the Nets, Lion’s Forest, Humble Administrator
Mingtown Suzhou International Youth Hostel
Hangzhou
Tea Museum
A History of Chinese in California
Braised Pork Belly – Hangzhou Dongpo Pork
Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe
Wushanyi International Youth Hostel
Shanghai
Captain Youth Hostel
News
Spirit Air to experiment with carry-on bag fees
Airlines losing 3000 bags – every hour of every day
Women try to smuggle dead relative onto flight
Paying to use the plane potty?
Ky. Judge Rules in Favor of Online Travel Sites
Community
Egypt Photo Tour
Amateur Traveler Newsletter
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Travel to Shanghai – Episode 609
Travel to Shanghai, China – Episode 26
Chinglish Menus Items in Shanghai, China
Travel to Nanjing, China – Episode 561
by Chris Christensen
Chris Christensen is the creator of the Amateur Traveler blog and podcast. He has been a travel creator since 2005 and has won awards including being named the "Best Independent Travel Journalist" by Travel+Leisure Magazine.+Chris Christensen | @chris2x | facebook
11 Responses to “Three Weekend Trips From Shanghai – Episode 227”
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Tags: audio travel podcast, china, lee moore, podcast, shanghai
tom lohrmann
Says:April 12th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Access site just great from work.
love the show.
Keep up the good work.
andrew
Says:April 12th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I can get to Amateur Traveler website from work, http://www.ftpsllc.com I know in the past some of our corporate filters would not allow websites with the word ‘podcast’ in them.
chris2x
Says:April 12th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Weird, I have not seen filters for podcast before. Huh.
Josh
Says:April 12th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Another great show. Unfortunately, I am one of the ones that can’t access the site from work (a city fire department). For me, it’s not the end of the world. I have episodes on my iPod and if I want to take a look at the site I just wait till I get home.
chris2x
Says:April 12th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Do you know what about it is blocked? Is because it has “amateur” or “podcast” or something else?
Sam
Says:April 13th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Able to load at work.
Chase Henderson
Says:April 13th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Loaded fine for me. I’m surprised it wasn’t blocked actually. (This may change next week.) Not because of any keywords, but our firewall keeps out blogs in general.
Alberto Mangones
Says:April 14th, 2010 at 5:56 am
Great show!
The site works just fine for me. I have “Websense” as a filter program.
Agagooga
Says:April 19th, 2010 at 5:39 am
Around 15:27 you showed a picture of a train speedometer going up to 431 km/h.
While the train from Shanghai to Suzhou is quite fast, it isn’t *quite* that fast – that honour belongs to the Maglev which takes you from the airport to the outskirts of Shanghai!
Agagooga
Says:April 20th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
More stuff to add:
1) Suzhou is traditionally famous in China for its beautiful women
2) There’re many interesting sights around the West Lake in Hangzhou, though your guest mostly talked about the scenery
It’s quite surreal: on one shore of the lake is the modern city, and around the rest of it is the ancient buildings.
Kathy
Says:April 21st, 2010 at 10:26 am
I spent a couple of nights in Hangzhou and Suzhou – haven’t made it to Nanjing yet. A few additions:
Hangzhou – a boat trip to the islands in the lake is definitely worthwhile
– I took a bus to Lingyin Si, the Temple of Inspired Seclusion, big, with elaborately decorated statues, and a huge pavilion housing imaginative statues of the arhats.
– I was there on National Day and the town was absolutely packed with Chinese tourists – if you want a quiet time probably better to go mid-week on a non-holiday week
Suzhou – there are several gardens to choose from – I found the Humble Administrator’s too big and not as interesting as the Garden for Lingering and Master of the Nets, or even the less-famous Yi Yuan and Canling Ting
– When I was there the Master of Nets was open in the evening, with performances of Chinese music and dance. Rather touristy, but the garden was magical at night.
– I particularly enjoyed visiting the Museum of Embroidery – not really a museum, but a workroom with women doing silk embroidery that looked like paintings. The Silk Factory can be skipped if you’ve seen silk production elsewhere.
– I found the bus system in Suzhou particularly easy to use, as the stops on the main street had maps.